An investigation of teachers' reactions to an inservice teacher education program based on reflection and action

Conferences on language teacher education are being held all over the world displaying marked emphases on inservice teacher education and programs that are teacher-learner-centered, context-sensitive, and which, through reflection and collaborative action research, allow teachers to further their own professional development and their knowledge about the teaching processes. In view of such interest, and the still scarce amount of published data-based evidence on the effectiveness of such programs, particularly from the point of view of the teachers, this study investigated teachers' reactions to a program that incorporates those characteristics. More specifically, it investigated how teachers acknowledged the impact of reflection on their beliefs and practice, which activities teachers thought were more motivating and beneficial to them, what specific and practical learning issues emerged from such a program, and how much this approach contributed to giving teachers a sense of ownership of their developmental process. For this investigation, four Teacher Assistants from the Division of English as an International Language of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign participated in a 10-week program based on reflection and action research devised after suggestions from the literature. The findings indicate that teachers, without downplaying the importance of instruction on theory, see reflection and action research as effective tools for development, and see this approach to teacher education as more beneficial to their professional development than programs heavily based on theory and methods.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teaching English as a Second Language

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2005

Author dc:creator

• Amorim, Altamir Roberto Machado

Contributors dc:contributor

• Davidson, Fred
• Hahn, Laura

• Language teacher education
• Impact of reflection
• Sense of ownership
• Professional development

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by Altamir Roberto Machado Amorim, 2005

Language dc:language

eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125866

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125866